All Wrapped Up

Thursday, 24 November 2016

Like the tin of Pringles, the Lynx shower gel and the sack of 'tat' (a plastic bag of 'crap' raided from the Spanish 'Poundland' equivalent) I thoughtfully get every Christmas from Father (and Mother) Christmas, ASCOT comes up with the goods in its usual traditional fashion.

Having spent even less time changing the ad than the Evening Standard from last year, (I'm guessing the '15 has become a '16 and making the background more Royal Blue than Navy) it becomes clear now that they bought this concept from the ad agency back in 1978 and promptly fired them, knowing that it was never going to get much better than this and that their Christmas campaigns for eternity was sorted... and who can argue?

Now that most of the classics are out of the way, (we're still waiting for the 02/Carphone Warehouse 2016 CAWU Metro wrap for the Holly Trinity to be completed) we can then look forward to some fresh CAWU campaigns.

Many thanks to Mark 'Sharky' Cochrane for the spot. I'm pretty sure he sent this to me last year. I wouldn't be surprised if he plans their media and buys the ad space. He probably changed the date and colour too.

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

I think we can all agree that 2016 has been a bit of a shocker. We lost Prince, Bowie, R2-D2, Wogan, Europe and, let's not forget that America is about to sponsor next year's apocalypse. So in these times of uncertainty, it's good to know some things don't change.

So please be upstanding and thank the Evening Standard for sticking with one tradition and kicking off CAWU '16 the same way it has since records began.

Green seems to be the key colour this year for the Standard's portrayal of Christmas, with red taking more of a backseat. It would also appear from previous years, that it's all about the smaller presents rather than the one BIG gift this time.

Whether this is down to austerity or perhaps better things do come in smaller packages, we'll never know. However, seeing this in the middle of the paper last night was like getting a big hug from a family member you haven't seen in a year(s). I can now look forward without dread, knowing that perhaps we'll all be OK this Christmas.

Monday, 21 December 2015

Like an extra present that's fallen behind the tree, there's one last CAWU post and it's probably the best of the bunch. Movies and Christmas go together like Kevin McCallister and the Wet Bandits and fortunately for us, the creatives at Film 4 have gone big and wrapped up Christmas perfectly for us. Literally.

60 seconds of pure CAWU fun.

Looks like Santa came through for us in the end. That, and his elf sized pal, Greg Mutton. Many thanks Greggybread for spotting this and restoring our faith in Christmas.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Well, I said it was slim pickings this year and it looks like (unless there's a massive surge of briefs coming in the last week - I pity the creatives if that's true) this could be the last CAWU of 2015.

Three lousy posts. Th-r-e-e. We've even had to look at social as an outlet.

Anyway, regardless of quantity, let's look at quality. And there's none to be found here from probably the best lager in the world. If the CGI designer had at least made half an attempt to make it look like it was real, then we'd have something to get excited about, but I fear this went straight into design from the client, courtesy of the account department because workflow said 'No'.

Perhaps we should start a JFDI blog.

But let's not finish on a low. There's a week to go and maybe a quick letter to the white bearded big guy might save CAWU 2015.

In other news, Hark the Herald Angels, my replacement fridge door bottle shelf has just arrived!

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Slim pickings this year so far. I know December has only just started but we're usually on the wind down by now. Anyway, another repeat offender turned up last night and it was quite a relief to be honest. Please be upstanding and slow clap TESCO for coming good just when it mattered.

I have a slight issue with this ad. And that is... who really gives a phone as a gift?

That aside it looks like budgets have been cut this year, fortunately it the copywriter was still able to flex his creative muscle. If there was one, it looks like the Art Director 'phoned' it in (on his new Galaxy S6) pretty early on and who can blame him. 'Here's the images', they said 'but feel free to Christmas it up a bit.'

Thursday, 12 November 2015

With #MoonHitler spying on kids for John Lewis, the launch of the Pret Christmas Sandwich (6/10) and glittery MSG being liberally sprinkled over all the supermarket's offerings, I was worried that Christmas All Wrapped Up had missed the launch of the festivities.

I'll be honest, I had begun to think that maybe the line had finally come to the end of its natural life as it's been all quiet in the CAWU house. Discussing this over a post-work pint last night, my phone buzzed gently and when I looked down an image appeared that would restore my faith with the advertising fraternity.

Thank heavens for Ascot.

Not only that, but it's a double-yolker for the Royal racecourse as this is the second year in a row that they've used those four lovely words. God bless you.

I'm hoping that 2015 will be our best CAWU year ever, but I have a feeling we might have been rumbled. Hope springs eternal though...

Keep 'em peeled people.

Many thanks to CAWU stalwart, James Devon for the text. And also @MsCheeseonToast for cutting it out and leaving it on the kitchen table for me when I got home.

Monday, 15 December 2014

Has it really been 2 and half weeks since we last posted a sighting? Doesn't time fly when clients want to brief in all their jobs in one go so they can essentially wash their hands of any work over Christmas?!?!?!

However, this site isn't to gripe about such nonsense, ours is to celebrate. And so, in (probably) our last post of the year, I'll quickly sum up the final CAWU sighting.

These guys were either late to the party or it simply passed us by until now.

Green and red, a bow tied round the product, a wrapped up URL - only spoilt by the amount of copy the client has mandated that go with it. A solid 6 out of 10 - not awful but nowhere near the ORSM-ness of this year's Post Office offering. Fingers crossed we end on a more 'fantastical' CAWU but I think we may need to close the book on 2014.

Thanks to everyone who kept 'em peeled and sent us the sightings, we couldn't do it without you.

What?

It's a gift from the Adland gods at this time of year. One of the most recognisable lines of copy used at Christmas. We're all guilty of using it at some point in our careers, it's the default sign off at Xmas. It's...

'Christmas All Wrapped Up.'

To celebrate this greatest of lines, we intend to find as many examples of its existence over the festive period and wrap up all the 'wrapped ups' in one place.

If you've seen it in a shop window, on the interweb, printed in a newspaper, on a poster or even on the telly (there's one for definite), please take a pic and send it to us or post the link to gmonza77@gmail.com